Ninja Way
by whitejaderabbit
Summary: Four girls. Four people they wish to win the admiration of. Four ways to do it. One goal. A four oneshots about the four kunoichi of Naruto, and their struggle for acknowledgement. Very light romance. SasuSaku, TenNeji, ShikaIno, HinaNaru. Complete.
1. Sakura

Green Tea: Welcome to my latest piece of Naruto fanfiction, Ninja Way. This collection of one-shots focuses around the four Kunoichi of Naruto, and their development as ninja. This work is not focused on romance or pairings, although, there are hints of it, scattered about. The four one-shots will be in this order: Sakura (SasuSaku), Tenten (NejiTen), Ino (InoShika), and Hinata (HinaNaru). Enjoy, please.

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Ninja Way:Chapter 1

Sakura - Only Success

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Sakura stared at the half-dead fish lying in front of her, it's gills wiggling feebly as it drew it's final breaths. 

_No, No, NO! It can't die! This is the seventeenth fish I've gone through!_

She focused more chakra into her hands, and the balls of glowing green light beneath her fingers grew larger, but still transparent.

The fish continued to twitch feebly beneath her hands.

_Not SIZE! I need strength! Chakra control, control, control, control..._

Beads of sweat rolled down her forehead. The pink-haired girl gritted her teeth as she fought to control her energy. She thought she had pretty decent chakra control, but compared to Tsunade's, it was nothing.

The fish's breaths grew shorter and weaker.

Inner Sakura grew frustrated at the scene in front of her.

_CONTROL IT, DAMMIT! HOW ARE YOU EVER GOING TO GET SASUKE BACK LIKE THIS?_

-Flashback-

Sasuke turned around to her tear-streaked face and smirked.

"You're really... annoying..."

-Flashback-

She raced forward toward the two boys, both holding equally powerful and lethal balls of light. Her legs trembled at the aura of so much energy, only her mind kept her running forward. But it was in vain. Had it not been for Kakashi, she would have been dead. That day she truly saw the gap between her ability and the rest of Team Seven's. She felt weak, left-behind, and most of all... alone.

-Flashback end-

_You know, Sakura, when have you EVER been able to do ANYTHING for ANYONE? Why did you become a ninja at all if you were just going to get in people's way and burden them. You're better off as a housewife! At least, that way, you won't always need people to SAVE you! You're a disgrace to yourself!_

Inner Sakura crossed her arms in contempt and withdrew from Sakura's conciousness.

Sakura could now barely see the fish because of the tears blurring her vision. It was not that harsh words that stung her the most, but the fact that it was all _true._

During the Chuunin exam, when everyone was knocked unconcious, she promised to herself that she would save them. That they would look at her back for once, that they would acknowledge _her_ strength and _her_ ability.

But what did she do? She failed them, that's what. All that resulted from that brillant encounter was a new hair-cut and more energy exerted by other people in attempts to save her. If it hadn't been for Sasuke going beserk, she would have been dead for sure.

The kunoichi choked on this fact. People always had to save her. Had to help her. Had to block a blow for her. In fact, the reason why she was still alive was simply because people were close enough to hear her scream.

What had she ever done in any mission or battle? Get scratched? Cut her hair? Scream? Scrape a knee? Have kunai flying at her, only to be deflected by Sasuke? Her existence till now was luck. Nothing more.

_No, I won't be conquered. I won't. I'll become stronger, I'll do this! I CAN DO THIS!_

_I'll get Sasuke-kun back. I must. _

Sakura concentrated with all her might, all her strength. Through her squinted, closed eyes, black became green, then red, and yellow, blue and back to black again. She saw stars and bursts of light, but she continued to force herself, until she thought she would faint...

She was greeted by the sound of fins slapping against the table.

Opening her eyes, she saw the fish, lively as ever, wiggling happily in front of her.

She held in her hands and smiled.

Even if this was simply a small step toward becoming powerful enough to save Sasuke, she would continue to take these steps, one by one. Failure was not an option this time.

Success is the only path she would tread this time.

_I swear it._

Giggling, she hauled the flopping fish off to show Tsunade.

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Green Tea: Thank you for reading! Please review! 


	2. Tenten

Green Tea: Whew, lots of work lately... And lots of writing. I hope my quality hasn't gone down... But then again, I'm not recieving many reviews lately. Well, here you go, the next oneshot, a Neji/Tenten. It doesn't have much fluff, in fact you can barely notice the Neji/Tenten ness... But still, I wanted to keep them in character. This is my first fight scene, so please tell me what you think! As always... Enjoy!

**NOTE:** This scene/shot takes place when Neji and Tenten are still Genin, and their team is still relatively new. They don't really know each other well yet, and Neji is still very much, an unsociable arse-hole.

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Ninja Way: Chapter 2 

Tenten- A Will of Steel

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It was a long day of practice, and Tenten's body was well aware of this fact. It ached and moaned as she stumbled to the edge of the clearing to gather her scattered shruiken and kunai. 

"Grr... Stupid Neji... He doesn't have to make those weapons repel so far... And I have to go after them and get them. Stupid Neji. Stupid Byakugan. Stupid Heavenly Spin. Stupid Neji. I swear he does it on purpose..."

And so she mumbled to herself as she bent over and retrieved every scattered weapon, knowing that she made absolutely no sense and was simply talking to get her mind off her sore muscles.

She was in the process of placing a shruiken in her holster when, from the corner of her eye, she saw two figures talking. Further observation revealed the two to be Gai-sensei... and speak of the devil, it was Hyuuga Neji!

This was a bit odd... Since when did Neji ever talk to Gai?

Tenten crept behind a nearby bush and hid her chakra, hoping that they wouldn't sense her presence some other way.

Gai frowned.  
"Neji, I understand your ambition, but..."

Neji cut him off.  
"It's absolutely a waste of time. Her skills are laughable, her speed is lacking, and she has absolutely no strategy what-so-ever. I'm not to be used as a baby-sitter, Gai."

Tenten winced.  
_That was harsh. I wonder who Neji is talking about THIS time? Hinata?_

"Now, Neji, I don't think you're giving her enough credit. Our little buttercup has a lot of talents, not to mention her dexterity is excellent."

The white-eyed Genincrossed his arms.  
"Dexterity doesn't do you any good if that's all you're good at. She may have one hundred percent accuracy, but the way she uses it is just purely wasteful."

_Wait... Wait... Wait... This sounds awfully like..._

"Tenten is good at many other things Neji, she just needs more practice. I demand that you continue to train with her. End of story. I'll see you tomorrow."

_Me._

Gai walked away, leaving Neji standing there, looking extremely irritated, eventually, he walked off as well.

Tenten was absolutely furious. Her previous muscle sores forgotten, she punched the tree beside her, leaving a large dent in the middle of the trunk.

_WHO THE HELL DOES HE THINK HE IS?_

She flung a kunai at a tree. It twanged metallically as it embedded itself in the thick bark.

_Waste of time..._

She flung a shruiken.

_Laughable Skills..._

A Scythe.

_Lacking Speed..._

Katana.

_No strategy..._

A handful of senbon.

_Wasteful..._

In a blind fury, Tenten dug out all her weapons she spent so long retrieving and hurled them at the unoffending tree, hundreds of senbon, four scythes, countless numbers of shruiken, kunai, fuuma shruiken... Swords, katanas, kodachis, anything she could find. She stopped herself as she was about to pull out her scrolls.

"Ughh..."

She slumped to her knees, facing the tree, which now resembled a pincushion more than a respectable member of the Quercus family. (AN: Quercus is the family name for oak trees)

The weapons mistress balled her fist and punched the ground.

"YOU'LL BE SORRY YOU SAID THIS, NEJI!"

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Neji frowned as his team took a lunch break. He, of course didn't take breaks and continued to practice, while Lee and Gai stuffed their faces. Normally Tenten didn't stop either, but today, she was sitting under a nearby tree, reading a book.

She was reading? He didn't know she read books...

From where he was standing, he couldn't make out the cover of the book, but she obviously seemed to be entralled by it.

Probably a love story.

Was he not Neji, he probably would have rolled his eyes. But seeing as he was, and he settled for a sneer and continued with the fifty-eighth stance of his Hakkeshou practice.

-----------------------

The kunai was repelled by Neji's Kaiten, and spun back at her, heading straight for her shoulder. The kunai found it's mark and she cried out, falling from the tree and landing heavily on the ground.

Neji frowned. Even with her speed, she had more than ample time to dodge the kunai... What was she thinking?

"Tenten. You aren't focusing."

Tenten pulled herself up and began to bandage her wounded shoulder.  
"Gomen."

"You're a waste of my time, I'm leaving."

"But, no, I-"

"I'm leaving."

As he walked away, Tenten smirked.

"Just you wait..."

-----------------------

A year passed faded by, and everyday, Neji would continue to train with Tenten. And everyday, he would continue to defeat her in every spar, thoroughly convincing him that he was truly wasting his time.

Until one crisp fall day, the unthinkable happened.

It started out as any other ordinary training day, except before they began to spar, he heard Tenten mutter crytically to herself, "This is my chance...".

He shrugged it off and prepared to be bored out of his mind.

The two genin prepared their usual battle stances and waited.

-----------------------

Tenten tensed herself, waiting for an opening. And then she struck, fast as lightning.

Neji was caught unprepared and barely dodged the rain of kunai.  
_When did she get so fast?_

The weapons mistress smirked as she pulled out a red-handled kunai and ran towards Neji, in what seemed like a suicidal attack.

_What is she doing?_

Neji blocked her with his Kaiten spin, sending her reeling back into the forest.

To his surprise, she quickly recovered and continued her suicide attacks, and he continued to send her flying back into the same patch of trees, over and over again.

_This is a waste of energy, I don't have time for silly games._

He prepared his sixty-four hands of Hakkeshou, and prepared for her next attack. As he expected, she emerged from the trees at a breakneck speed, but, instead of throwing herself into a suicide attack again, she leapt onto a nearby tree branch and threw a barrage of weapons at him.

This threw him off, and Neji switched from his Hakkeshou stance to his Kaiten barely in time to fend off the hail of steel. After emerging from the haze of swirled dirt and dust, he used his Byukugan to scout her out amidst the trees. But, before he had time to jump after her, she sent another wave of shruiken raining down on him. The Hyuuga prepared to repel them, but then he noticed the white tags attatched to the spiky metal stars.

_Shit, exploding tags_...

Neji leapt away, just in time to avoid the explosion, but was blinded by the smoke. He clenched his eyes shut and leapt away from the explosion.

After landing on a tree branch on the other side of the clearing, he activated his Byakugan.

But, instead of seeing the forest, he saw nothing but swirls of colors.

It took him a moment to realize what it was.

_Genjutsu... Since when did she use that? I didn't even know she knew how to use genjutsu..._

He bit his thumb to awaken himself and found himself facing a mass of shruiken headed his way. Neji jumped left to dodge them, but was greeted by another wave of them- apparently Tenten anticipated his dodge. With no time to dodge, he had no choice but to use his Kaiten once more. Beads of sweat dripped down his forehead as he spun. His chakra was running low.

_Why isn't she out of weapons yet?_

He looked at the ground around him to take inventory of how many weapons she threw, and was shocked to realize that the 'shruiken' she had thrown at him were no longer there. This meant only one thing- Another genjutsu.

Neji inwardly slapped himself. He wasted chakra dodging fake illusion shruikens. Great. It also meant that she still had a store of weapons in her arsenal.

Clever, she used her first genjutsu to blind his Byakugan, and took advantage of his confusion to cast another. Simple, but very effective...

He made no attempt to dodge the next shower of kunai, thinking that they too, were also genjutsu. Unfortunately for him, these were real, and he tasted the metallic tang of blood as one struck him on the cheek. Thankfully, none of the kunai hit any vital places, was it luck, or was it mercy?

His vision was beginning to blur and his chakra was nearly completely depleted from extensive use of the Byakugan. Neji was getting desperate.

It was now that the Weapons Mistress decided to use her Twin Dragons attack. She formed the correct handseals and pulled out her scrolls. A thunderstorm of metal hailed down upon him.

Neji scraped his last bit of chakra to use his Kaiten once more, but he was still pushed back into the forest by the sheer recoil of chakra exerted.

Through his 360 degree vision, he noticed a trap string behind him. He veered left to dodge the trap and landed neatly on his feet, dead-tired, but unharmed.

It was then that realized that he couldn't move. His vision alerted him to the four trap seal tags pasted on the trees around him, locking him in a chakra-created prison. He inwardly cursed. He was too busy avoiding the first trap to notice that he dodged into another.

Tenten stood in front of him, her hands still forming the dog hand seal.

"Game over, Neji. I win."

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"You cheated."

Tenten raised an eyebrow.  
"Excuse me?"

"You set up these traps beforehand and planned to push me back here."

Tenten apparently took offense to this. Her retort was laced with bitterness.  
"And you're supposed to be a genius? Use your thick head to think back to the beginning of the battle, before you start throwing accusations."

Neji recap-ed the battle in his mind... Suicide attacks, thrown back into the forest multiple times...

And then it hit him.

So she planted traps here... when she was thrown back... And then she cornered him into this part of the field, and struck, forcing him back into the woods, and onto her traps...

Tenten apparently read his astonished expression, and smirked.

"That's right. Had you not been so arrogant and actually followed me when I was thrown back here, you wouldn't have discovered that I was planting traps."

"When did you learn genjutsu?" He asked abruptly.

Tenten looked away.   
"Sakura... Did you like my illusion kunai?"

Neji only grunted in reply.

But he had to admit, she was greatly improved and her genjutsu made her only more formidable, not to mention her newly-found strategy. Impressive. To think she'd been hiding her skills all this time, in anticipation of this fight...

-----------------------

Tenten sighed. Although she did win this battle, she knew that she wouldn't have stood a chance, had Neji not underestimated her. She took advantage of his ignorance, but there was no doubt that this wouldn't happen again.

_Well, bask in the glory for now, because this is your first and last chance to._

"Well, whatever." Tenten muttered to herself, releasing her handseal and freeing Neji from the trap. She supported him with her right shoulder, and like that, the two limped back to the center of the training field in silence.

The kunoichi gathered her scattered weapons, while watching Neji bandage himself from the corner of her eye.

Oh, how badly she wanted to shove her victory in his face!- but she knew she had no right to.

He was the better one after all. Petty squabbles like this were above him. For all she knew, he could have been going easy on her.

Somehow, she imagined victory to be a lot sweeter than this.  
Shit. Now she felt like she was going to cry.

Tenten discreetly wiped away a renegade tear and finished gathering her weapons. She packed her bag and prepared for the walk home.

She was not two meters away before she heard someone call her name. Tenten stopped but didn't turn around.

_What does he want?_

"Good job."

Her eyes widened in shock. Did... Did... Did that... living ice cube... just... compliment her?

Impossible.

She whipped around so sharply that she nearly lost her balance.

"W-w-what... did you... just say?"

Neji stared back her impassively, majestic, despite all the bandages. She never understood how he could do that.  
"I said that you did a good job. I look forward to our next fight."

Tenten stared for a moment, shocked, before she realized she had nothing to say in reply. Quickly, she turned around and continued to walk home. She walked only but a few steps before she found herself smiling gleefully. After she was out of sight from her training field, she skipped the rest of the way home.

_I'll beat you one day, Neji. Just you wait._

But this time, her resolution was not backed by anger or contempt.

It was fueled by hope, determination and a will of steel.

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Green Tea: Yay! Tenten rocks! Please review!


	3. Ino

Green Tea: Welcome back to my story! Anyways, this is a Ino/Shika one-shot. (Don't like how it turned out, but oh well) Please read! (Not sure if you'll enjoy it though ) Critism accepted and respected. Oh, and it's super short... Sorry > 

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Ninja Way: Chapter 3

Ino- More Beautiful

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FLASHBACK

Chouji munched on his barbeque chips as he stood next to Shikamaru on the bridge. The two ninjas gazed at the flowing water of the river below in silence.

Then suddenly he asked a question.  
"Ne, Shikamaru, do you think Ino is beautiful?"

The dark-haired boy seemed surprised by the sudden question.

After a minute, he replied.  
"She is, but not very beautiful. Just... Average, I guess."

The larger boy ate a mouthful of chips thoughtfully.

"Why?"

END FLASHBACK

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_She's too vain._

Ino took a gigantic trashbag and dumped her entire collection of makeup and jewelry in it. She violently tied the bag and hefted it over her shoulder like a sack.

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Ms. Yamanaka was surprised to see her daughter walking downstairs with a large garbage slung over her left shoulder.

"Ino, it's already twelve, you should go to sleep. Where are you goin-"

She was cut off by the slamming of the front door.

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_She's always worrying about her appearance. Her hair, her clothes, her face._

Ino bit her lip and hefted the garbage bag into the dumpster.

She stood here after she was done and stared moonlight reflecting off the peeling dark green paint of it's metal walls for what seemed like an eternity.

-----------------------------

_She doesn't seem to understand the concept that beauty is only skin-deep._

The girl ran to the main river running through Konoha and dashed her hands through the cold water.

She splashed the water on her face, not caring if her mascara ran, or if her eyeshadow stung her eyes.

_She seems to care more about her appearance than anything else. She won't train her punches in fear she'll break a nail. What kind of ninja is that?_

Then, like a wild woman, she ran to the nearest tree and punched it. Hard.

And she punched it again.

Blood trickled down her knuckles as her skin broke, unused to such harsh treatment.

She didn't mind.

-----------------------------

_She's also really rude. Very rude._

Punch. Tomorrow, she'll apologize to Chouji for calling him fat.

_And bossy._

Another punch. She won't force her team to go to her favorite snack shop for lunch tomorrow. She'll let them choose.

_And kinda selfish._

The next time Sakura needed to borrow her clothes, she'll let her borrow her favorite dress.

-----------------------------

_I do love her, but, no, she's not that beautiful. There's still a lot she can do to improve. I'm not sure if she can, but it doesn't really matter to me. I'll still love her anyways._

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Ino abruptly stopped her assault on the tree.  
Turning around, she gazed at the moon hanging delicately in the sky.

She could change. She could improve. She will.  
She'll be less vain. Less selfish. Less rude. Less bossy. Less shallow.

Maybe she'll do it for herself. Maybe she'll do it for him. Maybe she'll do it for the world.

The pain in her knuckles were almost unbearable, but somehow, she's never felt happier in her entire life.  
Perhaps this is what a new beginning felt like.

The girl closed her eyes and basked in the soft, pale moonlight.

That night, she made a promise.

That she'll become... More beautiful.

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Green Tea: Meh. That wasn't very good. I'm not sure what's wrong with it, but it left a bad taste in my mouth. Can someone review and tell me? Thanks! 


	4. Hinata

Green Tea: Allo everyone! Well, here it is! The final installment of Ninja Way! (BTW: This is Hinata/Naruto ) Enjoy! This is basically following the canon episode, when Hinata was fighting the giant hornet. I think it's episode 151.

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Ninja Way: Chapter 4 

Hinata: No Higher Praise

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It was a peaceful and quiet night. 

A girl quietly slipped away from the tent her partners were resting in, holding onto a small canvas bag.

She walked through the thick forest, following the sound of falling water.

After a minute or two, she arrived at her destination. The waterfall.

It was a sort of enchanting waterfall, large and beautiful, the sort you would see in watercolor pictures in old storybooks. The sort you would expect to find mermaids in, where the moonlight refracted off the rocks and illuminated the entire pool with colors.

Hinata smiled to herself; it was truly a beautiful sight.

She quickly undressed and stepped into the cool, crystalline water.

Water always had a sort of soothing effect on her, whether it be a majestic waterfall, or the small ripples in a cup of tea.

She knelt in the shallow pool around the downpour, careful not to let herself to be hit by the jet of falling water, but simply flecked by the little droplets of spray. The girl closed her eyes and spent a moment enjoying the soothing water and the serene sounds.

However, when she reopened her eyes, they had a different light to them. A powerful, distinct sort of determination glittered in the pearly orbs.

The Hyuuga heiress stood up and climbed onto a rock near the waterfall, but a safe distance away from being hit. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, held it for a moment, and exhaled. She continued this breathing pattern, like a beat to the rhythm of the waterfall.

Slowly, she raised her arms, and gracefully assumed the first stance of the unique open-palm martial arts style. She continued to drift through the second stance, and the third, then the fourth, and so on, without using chakra, simply practicing her form.

Then, with the grace of a swan, she flipped off the slippery, moss-covered rock and into the water. But no splash was heard as her feet touched the surface of the pool- the surface tension remained intact. The girl hovered off the surface of the water for a moment, her eyes still closed serenely.

There was a moment of fragile silence before her eyes snapped open and her body instantly began a sort of dance upon the surface of the water.

It was first a 360 degree spin, then a leap as her hand whipped through the air, followed by a trail of water, as though guided by her palm.

She continued this dance of water, moving faster and faster, but still maintaining the same grace and control. The water began to fly through the air as though it had a will of it's own, creating archs after archs of droplets, over-lapping, layering, weaving together, faster and faster.

After a while, the dance seemed to be a flurry of water, the girl, nothing but a blur as she continued to weave. Soon, a sphere began to take shape around her, solidifying as the dancer's movements grew faster and faster.

Once the sphere seemed to be completely solid, there was a flash of chakra-induced light, and the sphere exploded, creating a beautiful shower of water droplets, that glimmered like diamonds as they flew into the air.

The spectacle only lasted for a moment, however, before the droplets fell back into the pool and the magic of the dance faded away into nothing but a memory.

Hinata fell to her knees in the pool and panted, sweat-droplets rolling down her face. She felt as though her lungs were going to implode. But as painful as the after-effects were, she could not help but smile; her training had been successful, and she was ready now. For the first time in her life, she was confident.

_Finally... a way to be... acknowledged... For me... For who... I am._

* * *

The gigantic summoned hornet was coming closer, slowly gaining speed and momentum as it carved a straight path in the ground... toward Hinata. 

_I can't let everyone down now... I can't... I can't..._

Hinata drew the first curve to her sphere, above her head, and then with her other hand, another curve across her side, and then top, and across, and top and across, over and over again.

_If I make my chakra bigger, stronger, more flexible..._

She continued to weave as her chakra supplied the thread for her spherical loom.

_More, more, more..._

The threads strengthened and became more and more opaque as she focused.

_No, not just my chakra. But everything. Everything. _

The hornet sped at her full-speed, only a few feet away.

_More confident, more hard-working, more successful, more... more... More!_

Her eyes shot open, bold and unafraid. A small smile worked its way onto her lips.

And then, with a flash, they collided, yet the sphere of light held, sending the hornet recoiling back several hundred metres.

Hinata let the sphere fall away. She stumbled and fell to the ground in exhaustion... had not someone caught her.

"Hinata!"

_Is that... Naruto-kun?_

"That was a really super awesome jutsu!"

_Did he... Did he just...?_

Hinata choked.  
"Really?..."

The whiskered face nodded back at her.  
"Mn!"

She smiled, though this small expression of happiness was no where enough to express the elation inside her.

_Then... I can ask... no higher praise... from anyone..._

"Naruto-kun!"

* * *

Green Tea: Ah! There you go! It's done I'd really like to thank all my wonderful readers and reviewswho helped me get through this! Without you, I couldn't have done it 

Big Thanks to:Neko, Yoyochan, Romanticide, Only Secret, Neji x TenTen, Yachtzee, Shad0wcat08, Xoni Newcomer, wildcatt, little wolf blossom, So-kun, and last but not least, Diana!

Thanks!


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